The teaching team decided to use architecture to reinforce the ideas being learned in the Science and History class, including study of the thirteen original colonies and of rocks and minerals. After developing students' visual thought through various activities, students were able to understand on their own a language of expression to create and design a final project.
Teacher: Melissa Silva
Architect: Margaret Talbot
Architecture Student: Greg Parker
In each class period students explored a different theme with the use of vocabulary, slides, drawings, and models. Students used these different themes in the final project.
Objective:Describe what architecture is, what an architect does, and how an architect expresses his/her designs.
Activity:Comments:
Our first concern was
whether the students knew what architecture is or what an architect
does. We opened the discussion with general questions, eventually
focusing on architecture. We showed slides of some easily
recognizable structures from Philadelphia, across the nation and
abroad. The students enjoyed trying to guess what each building was
and where it was located. We explained what the differences were
between each building, for example between The Roman Coliseum and The
Capitol Building.
We then showed the class architectural drawings. The students expressed enthusiasm as they asked many questions about the project and how the drawings were completed. The students were given an assignment to draw the front facade of their homes, an appropriate first project.
Objective:Create students' awareness of how basic building elements support themselves.
Activity:Comments:
In the second week we
attempted to teach how buildings stand up. We again showed slides of
different building elements such as domes, lintels and cantilevers.
We then explained how these elements work and the materials of which
each is most likely to be constructed.
We introduced the AIE structures kit to give students a hands-on approach to learning about structures. The kit allowed the students to experiment and discover how the different components of buildings are supported. The students were interested in the kit and asked many pertinent questions.
To reinforce the ideas presented, we distributed a vocabulary handout and discussed it using the blackboard while sample materials were passed around the classroom. Unfortunately because of all the questions, we ran out of time.
Objective:Review the previous class on structure and introduce scale.
Comments:
We began this class period by
drawing some of the vocabulary words on the blackboard to see if the
students had remembered them from the previous week. Most of the
students had understood the material and remembered the vocabulary.
We then distributed another vocabulary handout that dealt mostly with
building types, which prompted a discussion about rowhomes.
This discussion was not planned on our part. We were encouraged by the students' enthusiasm and questions about the topic. It became apparent from the exercise that they had completed in the first week that most of the students lived in rowhomes.
We explained the concept of scale and gave them a worksheet and instructed to students to draw a person in the appropriate scale to the buildings on the worksheet.
Objective: Students learn the elements of a city, discuss the evolution of Philadelphia, identify elements of a colonial city, and determine the boundaries of a neighborhood.
Comments:
We discussed the
different components of a city. We began by listing on the blackboard
things one would see in the city and in the country. We then asked if
any of these components would change if we were talking about a city
of 1776 instead of 1995. Things began to appear and disappear from
the list. We gave a brief history of Philadelphia by using a poster
and handouts of the Thomas Holme plan of Philadelphia.
The students then had the task of drawing their own neighborhood. There were vast differences in their perceptions of their neighborhood's boundaries. Nobody seemed to know where it ended. This in turn led the students to find their home on large scale planning maps. This exercise also taught the students map skills, which was new for some of them.
Objective:Introduce the final project, the development of a colonial town.
Activity:Comments:
The students began their final
project. As a group the class listed the different types of buildings
that should be located in the colonial city that they would be
designing. Each member of the class picked the building they wanted
to construct. The entire class designed the town on the blackboard.
Each member of the class was called upon to suggest where a particular
building or street should be located. This led to some lengthy
discussions between the students. A name was also given to the town
as well as the streets in it. The town would be called Stetsonia,
after the school, and the residents would speak Stet.
One student showed a model of a house she built out of a shoe box and other materials. She was so interested in the project she couldn't wait until next week when they all would be doing this.
Objective:To use the elements learned to date in the design and construction of the final project.
Activity:Comments:
This week the students began the
much anticipated final project. They were very excited and showed
their enthusiasm through their work.
The assignment was to draw the front facade of the building that the student had selected the previous week. These drawings would later serve as a reference for their models. We circulated photocopies of different types of buildings so the students could see a sample of their building type. We emphasized the importance of scale and gave each student a scale person.
The students were given cardboard boxes to create their building. Other materials were also available. They enthusiastically jumped into the project.
Objective:Continue the construction of the individual buildings and construct the town.
Activity:Comments:
During these two weeks the
model building continued. The building construction was at various
stages of completion. The class drew upon the knowledge they had
received in the previous classes, with many referring to the
vocabulary sheets that had been distributed.
Scale was a hard concept for the students to grasp. The size of the models varied greatly. We attempted to control this by placing differently scaled models adjacent to each other and prompting the children to discover the differences between them. Eventually, some members of the class began to note the differences of scale. This prompted a few students to begin their models over again, vowing the scale would be correct.
Many students had cut out the drawings of their facades and glued them directly to the cardboard, while others simply decided to paint the cardboard. The models also began to show more details as the class became more familiar with the materials.
Some of the students were thrilled with the fact that they were actually building something. Others were fearful of the process and had to be urged on to complete the project. A few students were reluctant and afraid of the model building. To combat this we teamed these students with an energetic student to complete one building as a team. This seemed to work, as the fearful students slowly began to take an interest in the project.
Objective:Complete the individual buildings and construct the town.
Activity:Comments:
The class again
delved into their model building. Painting, coloring, drawing and
glueing resumed with exuberance. The students rushed to complete
their buildings by the time we had set at the beginning of the class.
Most of the buildings were close to completion by then and many were
wet with paint.
A site plan was completed by the students who had finished their models ahead of the others. They placed their buildings on the site plan. The students seemed thrilled to watch their town come together. Some members of the class were unaware of their classmates projects and marveled at them as they were placed side by side. The students seemed satisfied with their work and were sad that it was the last class.
The Architecture in Education Program provided a unique setting for the students in the class, establishing a link between history, science and architecture. Our goal was to support what was being taught to the students in other classes.
We were not trying to make these kids architects, but rather help them develop an awareness of architecture. Our intention was to help develop skills and visual thinking. We needed language to describe the visual expressions and introduced many new vocabulary words.
The goals allowed for an increase in self-esteem and created a freedom of expression within each student. The activities encouraged this free thought and allowed the students to develop at their own pace.
The lessons varied from structure, to material and scale, to the neighborhood. Each lesson built upon another, which became evident to the students as they began their final project, the colonial town. They had to draw upon the past classes to complete their portion of the project. The town allowed them to see how these different elements were used within the realm of architecture.
The overall experience that the Architecture in Education Program had developed within the students and the teachers was positive and rewarding. It has provided a unique integration into education. It allowed the students to be innovative and creative while still instilling knowledge.
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